Transport brain drain as world seeks Tube stars

LONDON Underground is having to cope with a “brain drain” of top talent to transport operators all over the world because of the Tube network’s global “gold standard” reputation, it was claimed today.

Howard Collins, chief executive of Sydney Trains and a former top LU boss is to tell a high-level rail conference in London this week that the skills built up by engineers, designers, planners and leaders modernising a Victorian railway carrying 1.3 billion passengers are in hot worldwide demand.

Mr Collins, who was chief operating officer of LU from 2008 to 2013, told the Standard: “The longer I’m away from the UK the more I realise how much we take the Tube for granted ... believe me when you view London from a distance like this — 17,042 km — you begin to realise what a worldclass network truly looks like.”

Mr Collins, who is speaking at the “Tomorrow’s Rail” event on Wednesday hosted by broadcaster Kirsty Wark, pointed to a number of high-level examples of Tube executives who have been headhunted to run other networks.

They include Rob Mason, who heads the railways in the Australian state of New South Wales and was previously in charge of the Victoria Line and LU’s direc tor of st ations; Jay Walder, a former managing director for transport and planning at Transport for London who is credited with introducing the Oyster card and went on to run Hong Kong’s MTR network for seven years; and Toronto Transport Commission boss Andy Byford, who started his career as a station foreman before becoming group station manager at King’s Cross and a general manager of customer services.

David Crawley, managing director of London-based transport consultancy Xanta, said: “What we’re finding is that clients are looking for individuals who have dealt with some of the more complex issues during their careers.

“By definition therefore you’re finding that those most in demand are the more senior, frankly often the older professionals, who have hands- on experience of a lot of the changes we’ve seen in London and the South East in Pete Waterman particular over the last two decades.”

He said he was aware of engineers being sought after to work in Dubai, UAE and Qatar on new railways, in Singapore and Hong Kong for developing their existing networks and for planning the proposed Bogota Metro on Colombia.